Max Verstappen handed 'very impressive' praise as major unknown remains

Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies has hailed Max Verstappen as "very impressive" during the Monaco Grand Prix, despite the major unknown surrounding what he might have achieved in the race.

The four-time world champion was one of the standout performers throughout the weekend and looked extremely competitive across practice and qualifying.

Going into the sixth round of the season, there were doubts over whether the Milton Keynes-based outfit would endure a difficult weekend due to its struggles over kerbs and bumps. In reality, however, Red Bull proved surprisingly strong.

Verstappen was Kimi Antonelli's only genuine challenger in the fight for pole position and fell just 0.043s short, setting up an enticing prospect for the race.

Unfortunately, all of that excitement evaporated the moment the lights went out, as a power unit failure forced the Dutchman into an immediate retirement and left him requiring a new engine for Barcelona.

Antonelli went on to claim a fifth consecutive grand prix victory with ease, while the question of what Verstappen might have been able to achieve will remain forever unanswered.

Asked what he believes Verstappen could have achieved in the race, Mekies told select media including RacingNews365: "I think it's a path we will never know. Everything I would say is complete speculation. Kimi disappeared; it's always difficult. 

"I could tell you we can look at the FP2 lap times, but every day is different around Monaco, so honestly I don't think we have that answer.

"I think credit to Kimi — he surprised all of us by being that fast around Monaco on his own, in only his second year — and I think he showed that what he had done in qualifying was not one magical lap, but that he had very serious pace. 

"Whether or not Max would have been able to challenge that pace again, we will never know. But certainly, the level at which Max was running in qualifying — not just on one lap, but in Q2 and his two attempts in Q3 — was very impressive.

"And we know that every time you manage to get Max comfortable with the car, you get that extra Max effect. So I would have liked to see what it would have done in the race."